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Spain – Working its way up from the bottom

by Richard Fleming

Although recent transaction activity numbers for Spain differ widely — up 36 percent in 2015 against 2014, to €11 billion, according to Cushman & Wakefield; down 28 percent in the final quarter of 2015, on a year-on-year basis, according to Real Capital Analytics — Spain is still seen as a peripheral–euro zone opportunity market that has yet to regain past glories, and recent deal announcements would appear to confirm this.

The retail sector is a principal focus. AEW Europe has acquired a high-end High Street retail development in central Madrid for its City Retail Fund. The 750-square-metre retail unit on Calle Serrano was acquired as a forward purchase from a joint venture between Rockspring Property Investment Managers and a local investor, and is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2017.